Theme park chiefs blame weathermen for losses

Britain's leading theme parks yesterday accused television weathermen of costing them millions in lost revenue because of unnecessarily gloomy forecasting.

Presenters were accused of being "crass and careless", too vague, generalising over vast parts of the country and "enjoying" predicting bad weather.

A gloomy outlook, leisure industry experts said, can halve the number of visitors to a theme park on any one day. The final straw came after numbers were down on Monday's bank holiday, when they claim forecasters got it wrong by predicting rain.

David Cam, vice-president of the British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attractions, said: "Every year parks across the country are losing out on millions of pounds of revenue because of grossly misleading forecasts.

"It is phenomenally frustrating that the success of the park depends in large to a one-minute weather forecast.

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"On a good day we have 80,000 visitors but that can be slashed in half by crass and careless weather reports. We have invited members from the Met office to lunch and made our feelings clear but the problem has not gone away.

"In fact it was made worse after Michael Fish gaffed and didn't predict the hurricane in the late Eighties. Ever since then weather presenters take the stance of predicting the worst weather possible.

"They do not have the nous to realise what damage they are doing to a completely innocent industry. The days of seaside holidays are pretty much gone, so we, like other theme parks, rely on daytrippers.

"But people won't get out of bed if they think there is a chance of a shower."

Mr Cam, who is also managing director of Blackpool Pleasure Beach, added: "Weather presenters are too general, they will say there will be rain in the north but that could mean Scotland and we could have sunshine all day.

"All this is costing serious money. Something needs to be done. We are being pushed into a corner. We want to see a more upbeat message presented on the forecasts on telly.

"As an association this is something we noticed about 15 years ago and it has steadily got worse. We will be looking at taking action after our next meeting.

"It is fine for these people to look pretty and well groomed in front of the camera but they have a responsibility to the viewer."

With the weather being a cultural obsession among the British, presenters and forecasters have worked to improve their image to present a more scientific front to their job. Many are now household names.

However, they are often still criticised as relying too heavily on guesswork, with presenters being picked for their looks rather than their knowledge, and this latest row will do little to improve their reputation.

He said: "It sounds barmy but the forecasts have a massive effect on our visitor numbers. We are becoming so frustrated by the negativity of the TV weathermen because it is costing us millions of pounds each year.

"There is nowhere else left to go. Legal action is becoming a realistic possibility - we can't afford to lose out because of a one-minute forecast.

"When it is raining we lose at least half of our daily visitors. But a bad weather forecast can cut the number of visitors by a third or even more."

David Hadden, managing director of Pleasurewood Hills, in Lowestoft, Suffolk, added: "If there is a chance of rain in one part of the county, the weather forecaster will just plaster a great big black cloud over the whole area.

"I could do a better job of predicting the weather by standing on the beach with a piece of seaweed."

A spokesman for the Met Office said: "The weather reports are scientifically grounded and we get it right more often than not."